Have A Taste?
by veronca
Summary: A dark twist to the tale into Rossetti poetry with Snow White.


They sit together--quietly on the bridge; a couple of beauties come right out of a fairy tale book. The prince charming to whom we have NO idea what his name is so we shall call him Charming. And the pretty girl with the dark curls and rosy cheeks against white unnatural skin was our very own perky Snow White. She was so pretty that her evil step mother decided to do away with her and as you all know—that didn't happen.  
  
Today they decide to take a stroll down the rivers edge with a basket of goodies; yummy palate of succulent melted cheese with crisp cucumber sandwiches cut into triangles, a tall container of sugar beverage sweetened with strawberries and crushed nuts topped with mashed whipped cream all swirled inside a tightened jar. The rest of the contents were various fruits and delightful baked cookies hand made from the very laborious dwarves.   
  
Since the bridge itself is made of red brick though old--it held them up above the flowing stream of the rushing water and Snow White let her dainty legs dangle freely. She merrily sang a tune, the same one she sang when Charming came upon her at the well the first time. He loved to listen to her sing and watch the way her dark curls bounce as she moves her head from side to side and the movements of her slender arms sway.   
  
Snow White took a bite of the three sided sandwiches and chews quietly as a pretty princess of her kind should. Nothing less than ladylike for this girl and both watch the sky with the coming of seasonal birds making their way home towards the south. It was getting chilly again and the seasons were changing—Mother Nature churning out the coming of falls brusque leaves upon the cold ground.   
  
She could not shake off the fact that she was truly and utterly happy. She was perhaps the luckiest little princess ever! What, next to Cindy and Miss Briar Rose she also had a handsome man to boot.   
  
Peering below at the waters crystal reflection, she could see her red red lips in a full pout and her dark curls shaping around her heart shaped face; the wispiness of their soft tendrils giving her a more ethereal appearance.  
  
Charming reaches over and wipes at her mouth with a dainty handkerchief and Snow White giggles delightfully. Oh nothing can damage their beauteous day today. It was a something of an oddity when the natural sounds of birds and the rustle of the trees and branches began to take on more of uneven musical tone to their otherwise ideal harmony.   
  
"Come buy our orchard fruits,  
  
come buy, come buy!"  
  
Snow White's dainty fingers were set against her ear and she motions her head to the side. She looks at her handsome companion and with wide eyes, she makes an "O" with her lips.  
  
The sing song came again, "Apples and quinces, lemons and oranges, plump unpicked cherries, Melons and raspberries."  
  
Because she was such a precarious child, she hops off the bridge, and sets her delicate feet upon the cold cobblestones of the bridge's foundation.   
  
Picking up her simple gown with its inlaid heart shaped designs and does a slight twirl that sent her dress flying up to reveal her naked shapely legs; they began to set in motion towards the disharmony of the sound.   
  
Charming lifts his eyebrows at the quick display and wonders if this was wise of them to venture into something unknown. But it was such a lovely day, he thought as the blue sky winks at him from above and the sun stroke at his lovely blond hairs atop his head.   
  
"Come buy our orchard fruits" they repeat. And to Snow Whites great enchantment; she stumbles upon a bevy of smallish men bearing all sorts of delicious mouthwatering fruits and delightful fares that she has never had the privilege to taste!  
  
Pomegranates that beg for a bite and as Persephone's figurative produce along the entrance of darkness which separates light, Miss White takes one or two, picking at the plump and ripe seeds, her small white teeth biting into them causing juices to spill upon her spotless dress.   
  
Oh don't mind if I do, she cries as she claims a dark purple plum the size of an apple. By then her lips begin a slow turn to a dark mauve, and Charming who had come upon them sees the little men, becomes a bit aghast!   
  
Not again, he thinks in a slight annoyance for he had sent the seven dwarves away on a long vacation in a mining field somewhere far and they being such persons that go weak at the sight of gold and diamonds would not be seen for a long time.   
  
With a growl and a stride, he knocks them aside, though not a violent man, he did not appreciate the image of his little pretty princess in the center of attention with a bevy of diminutive men carrying loads of fruits and wares, and their stubby fingers pushing up against the soft skin of her face and cheeks.   
  
Come--he cries to Snow White, let us go and get away from here. It is getting dark and your fine dress has been ruined by the stains!   
  
Never you mind, she shakes her head, her eyes in a slight dizzy state of slumber and sensual ecstasy for she could not get enough of the fruits that seem to go down her throat like fine expensive wine and the sweetest nectar dip in golden honey!  
  
The little men were not to be waylaid! They wanted payment for all the food the princess had eaten! Charming lifts his fist at them and says in a deep roar that'll he'll give them payment alright! They would not be stopped really and not for one man who would mean them serious harm. They mean to get their money and with malicious glee, they point to his locks.  
  
The ends of their fingers scratches at his hair, wanting the shiny strands for compensation and he would meet the terms so long as he could get his princess away to safety for she looks as if she were drunk with glee and mischief. Her eyes half closes and her tongue licking at her full lips, she no more resembled the innocent Snow White he knew but a more disheveled bedraggled girl who needed some strong coffee and a nights rest!   
  
Snip snap, snip snap and the shears they did a cutting on his beauteous mane. His hair was so close cropped he felt a bit nude there but thought no more of it as he boosts the young maiden upon his shoulder.   
  
During the duration of the night, Snow White lies upon her lonely bed and the rise of the temperature of her forehead forms great beads of sweat and her teeth clenches. The cries she emits into the forlorn room carries and Charming wakes in the next room.  
  
She had a hell of a headache from the dosage of food she had consumed.Running to the room of his beloved, Charming crouches down beside her bed and sighs, Oh what is the matter my princess?   
  
When upon her once delightful eyes opens to set it upon her adored, the dark circles underneath her eyes and the pupils dilating in despair. Charming became alarmed and held her tightly but she refuses his advances and his affections.   
  
No no she cries in open agony, for she wants the fruits of the little men!   
  
He set his lips on hers, quieting her lovely voice for it gave him anguish but she refuses and sets herself apart from him.   
  
There was nothing to be done. He stands up and gets to action immediately, wishing to find the men with the bounty of fruits and wares. He could not, would not see her like this. So he begins the search for them.   
  
In the forest at night, there in the darkness of the trees and the shapeless figures that seem to move in and out of his vision, he walks with a determined pace hoping to catch sight of them. Yet as he continues to walk into the deeper parts of the forest, he stumbles upon a few branches that snap at his heels and the call of an owl perks his ears and sets his neck a feeling of prickliness.  
  
Soon he began to tire and fell on the ground, in that forest floor where the leaves fell upon his person and covered him like a mantle. The crispness of the leaves surround him with fragrances unknown and the sleep that begs to be heard overtook his senses.  
  
In the quiet of the night, there lay a young man named Charming and his countenance if anyone could see in the deep darkness was so handsome, with a golden sheerness of what was once his hair, shaved close to his head. His eyes were closed and the evenness of his breathing came to a deeper and deeper slumber of inhalation.   
  
Lovely legs a stranger had; lean and pale against the moonlight shone in that forest ground upon setting herself in his unclosed view. She glides in without a sound and there upon her head held a coronet of flowers upon her golden autumn hair, long and full and with a band around her waist that tied the attire she wore together.  
  
She kisses the unsuspecting prince and takes him away to a deeper slumber that goes deeper than his dreams.   
  
Back at home, Snow White turns paler and an ashy gray coloring starts to meld into her own skin and the dark circles could not vanish. She feels the tears sting her cheeks and she swipes them away with the back of hand and it has been so long since Charming left.  
  
Becoming alarmingly worried, she struggles to get her red shawl and wraps them around her hair and shoulders, hoping to ward against the briskness of the night open air.  
  
Walking on the dewy grass, she makes tracks and wets her bare feet, deliberate footprints of her shapely foot gave way to her ascent into the forest ground.  
  
Dry tears now plaster on her face as she struggles to catch sight of her young prince and avoiding the treachery of sharp branches and jagged rocks, she makes her way faster than a fox being chased by bloodhounds.   
  
The sounds of something fierce growls at her, blocking her path and the creature whose presence could not be known comes into the light of the moons glow, a snarl and great big teeth project out to capture her in fright.  
  
Where are you going he inquires, and he wore a suit with a tie, silk and cloth not known in these parts and he advances slowly, trying to capture his prey.  
  
She shakes her head and lifts both her hands to stop the stranger whose piercing yellow eyes give her more dread than her present condition of state.  
  
The sounds of unharmony came upon their ears,  
  
"Come buy our orchard fruits,  
  
come buy come buy!"  
  
Snow White closes her eyes in great relief, and the wicked looking beast unhands her immediately, his nose flaring, he spits out his anger at the incoming disturbance of the little men.  
  
"Come buy our orchard fruits,  
  
Come buy, come buy!"  
  
They appeared the same as always, coming at the two with baskets of fruits and delicious wares. Their eyes took on a more yellow malevolent gleem and their wrinkly hands reach out to show a delectable apple.  
  
Snow White took this chance whilst the dangerous stranger tries to shove them away with his great hand, growling in disgust and the young maiden took off like a bat out of hell.  
  
Her steps light as a feather, as if she could not hear the thunder of her heartbeat and the pulses at her temples, the calling of the night owl warning her of her fate.  
  
When upon chance she stumbles into her Charming with another woman, young and pretty like her, she could not take the abuse anymore! The young fairy like creature with the dark eyes and wispy long gold-red hair blocks the young mans body with her own, crying out that she would never let him go!   
  
Snow White was never a violent girl really but she was desperately hungry for more fruits that the little men called out back there and had lost her red shawl along the way, was nearly ravaged by a mysterious and hazardous stranger, she was not to be denied of her man!  
  
And she picks up a rock to throw at the woman but misses. Get away from him she screams and rushes forward to beat at the other with her fist!   
  
With all the commotion, Charming wakes up to the loud noises of screams and sees his little princess and another woman going at it upon the forest ground, their gowns entwines with leaves and bits of grass gave evidence to how long and hard they fought. The hair upon their heads unsettles and is quite unladylike!   
  
Snow White learned a little from her time with the seven dwarves and gives a mighty punch to the other woman. Landing a sucker punch at the pretty cheeks of the red haired one and it does the job to keep her motionless.   
  
Breathing a little heavy, Snow White gets up and wipes off her hands and adjusts her disheveled gown. Glancing over at the astonished Charming she rushes to him and quickly tells him they must flee before the little men with fruits come and the stranger with great big teeth takes her away!  
  
What--he cries in confusion. This was indeed a terrible dream he hopes and they both take flight into that cold night, hers with cold bare feet and him with his shorn blond hair.   
  
Whence upon they arrived in the cozy firelight of their home, they sat together by the hearth and Snow White shakily lies her head upon his shoulder, her dilemma has not faltered and she still begs to try more of the tempting fruits.  
  
Her eyes were so dark from the pain she felt and the paleness of her skin so gray now, she looks a bit on the worst side and Charming was terribly disheartened for he had done nothing but cause more trouble when he went out into the night. She cries to him in honest vanity,  
  
"Come and kiss me, never mind my bruises, hug me, kiss me, suck my juices."  
  
Then with a more breathless whisper, "Eat me, drink me, love me; make much of me, for your sake I have braved the glen, and had to do with them."  
  
In a hasty attempt to cure her of her sad state, he lowers his lips to hers, and clung to her, saying, yes, and he kissed and kissed her and the tears that had once shrunk her eyes deeply slowly made fuller, if for a moment.  
  
His lips were like the drops of sweet rain and she kissed him back with a hungry mouth.  
  
Snow White fell into oblivion.  
  
Charming could not even feel the tears that fell. And for the first time he prays in the silent night.  
  
Life out of dark deaths grip and the long night held onto Snow White like a ship out to sea, clinging onto the edges of its dangerous tides and washed out shores.  
  
As we wait to perish, and we turn to ashes, things will all come true.  
  
So unto the day and unto the next days, the kisses he lent Snow White could not even give her resurrection. Her breath came in slow even steady beats--as her heart. Her prince lowers his head to her temple, and the shadows against the walls imprint their shapes, and if one could remain a trained eye to watch closely--they meld and melt slowly away like the dancing sparks in the hearth taking up refuge within the dying embers.  
  
Outside the door of their cottage, there on the porchstep--an apple; shiny and deep red, blinks back at the new day's harsh glare.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Fin.  
  
A/N: Inspired by Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market", the sleeping knight, traces of red riding hood, and our very own Snow White and her prince who with a single kiss had always revived our heroine. Since this is tragedy, I wrote it in the same vein as Grimms brothers fairy tales. Which in less graphical and less tragical instances--bring back the moral tone with severe consequences!   
  
I hope you enjoyed it. 


End file.
